Changing Waitlist Settings When People Are Already Waiting

Short version: changing a waitlist setting only affects people who join from that point forward. Anyone already on your waitlist stays exactly where they are. Nobody is moved, promoted, or removed because you changed a setting.

This matters most in one specific situation, so it is worth reading if you turned on Automatic Waitlists after people had already signed up.

Turning on Automatic Waitlists when people are already waiting

If your form already had a waitlist and you switch on Automatic Waitlists, the people who joined earlier are not added to the automatic queue. They remain on your waitlist and you can still see and contact them, but the automation does not know about them.

That means if a spot opens up, it will not be filled from that earlier group. The spot simply becomes available again, and the next person to visit your form can take it.

Only people who join the waitlist after you enable the setting are placed in the automatic queue.

Why it works this way

Automatic Waitlists do not just reorder a list. Depending on the mode, they either email someone an invitation or assign them a confirmed spot outright. Sweeping every past waitlist entry into that queue could email people who signed up weeks or months ago, for dates or options that no longer exist, telling them they have a place at something they no longer remember. We would rather not send that email on your behalf without you asking.

What to do if you want the earlier group included

Contact us and we can move your existing waitlist into the automatic queue for you, in the original signup order. It is worth checking first that the earlier signups are still relevant, especially if your form's dates or options have changed since they joined.

Turning off Automatic Waitlists

People in the queue stay on your waitlist and keep their place. Open spots simply stop being filled automatically, and you go back to managing the waitlist yourself.

Switching between Invite and Auto-Fill mode

Everyone already in the queue stays in the queue, in the same order. What changes is what happens the next time a spot opens:

• Invite mode: the next person is emailed and has a set window (12 hours by default) to claim the spot. If they skip it or do not reply, the next person is offered it.
• Auto-Fill mode: the next person is assigned the spot immediately and told by email. No claiming step.

Anyone who already has a live invitation under Invite mode keeps it. The new mode applies from the next opening onward.

A quick way to check what is in your queue

Open your form's Responses page and look at the Waitlist section. That shows everyone waiting. If you enabled Automatic Waitlists partway through collecting signups, the people listed from before that point are the ones the automation will not act on.